


A Matter of Affection

by mysticmajestic



Series: T’Aegia [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Galra Shiro (Voltron), Love Confessions, Love at First Sight, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-08 02:32:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15921068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysticmajestic/pseuds/mysticmajestic
Summary: Lance of Altea is a humble little bookstore owner. Shiro, Champion of the Galra, stumbles into it one day and becomes besotted with the owner.





	A Matter of Affection

**Author's Note:**

> Tiny little fluffy oneshot I wrote in a sitting. I'm planning on a series of oneshots in this setting. This was just a little taster.

Lance watched the demon walk into the bookstore, pausing momentarily to sniff at the air. Whatever he smelled caused his shoulders to droop, the lines of tension in his face disappearing under the weight of his relief. His horns curled delicately inward to his white blond hair, a direct contradiction to the muscles that bulged in his brown tunic, pushing at the leather in a way that had Lance’s mouth watering, his toes curling in his shoes in delight.

What the Champion of the Galra was doing here, in Lance’s humble little bookshop, remained to be seen. T’Aegia was one bookshop in a million, and not half so lavish as the one in the main square. He didn’t have suppliers; every book he had was painstakingly acquired by himself. Therefore, there weren’t many books written in this century on his dozens of old, slightly dusty bookshelves.

As much as he wished to go up to the Champion and ask him if he needed help, there was an air to him, one that screamed _Do Not Disturb_. Picking up ‘The Art of Teleprojection’ Lance tried to ignore the Champion as he walked through the shelves. ‘Tried’ being the operative word. There was something alluring about the Champion. Seeing him in person was vastly different to seeing him in the arena, battling monsters of all shapes and sizes. None had ever bested him. Lance couldn’t believe such a person was here, right in front of him.

So lost in thought, Lance didn’t see the Champion approach his desk until several heavy tomes dropped on the wood, startling him so badly he threw his book—at the Champion. Horrified at himself as he recovered, hand pressed to his chest, Lance opened his mouth to apologise when he realized the Champion had caught the book with nary a blink.

“Here,” said the Champion, handing the book back. His voice was soft, almost kindle, and there was a twinkle in his dark eyes. “I believe this belongs to you.”

“I am…so sorry for that,” said Lance, taking the book. He floundered for a moment. _What a pretty shade of grey,_ he thought. “U-um, was this all?”

“For now,” said the Champion. “You have quite the collection…” He trailed off pointedly, an eyebrow raised.

He wants my name, Lance thought, after a beat of confusion. “Oh! Lance. My name is Lance. And thank you. I spent quite a lot of time cultivating it.”

“Lance,” said the Champion, as if testing the weight of it on his tongue. When his slate grey eyes met Lance’s own, they were alight with approval. “I am Takashi Shirogane, but everyone calls me Shiro. I happened to run into this shop running away from a few…admirers,” he spat the word out, a wrinkle forming between his brow in distaste. “I must say, not even the Ves’Argess has a collection this big. Looks like you’ve gained a new customer… _Lance_.”

Lance’s heart swelled with pride. “I look forward to your patronage…Shiro.”

In truth, no one had ever bought so many books from him in one go. It was astounding to add up the cost and realise he had never seen those numbers on the till.

“Would you like a bag?” asked Lance. “Those look quite awkward and heavy.”

The tomes were almost the length of Lance’s torso, so thick that the cover on top didn’t quite touch the pages. Nevertheless, Shiro scooped them up like they were nothing, and Lance couldn’t keep his eyes off the muscles of his biceps that bulged under the strain.

“No need,” said Shiro. “I haven’t far to go, and they weigh nothing at all. See you around, Lance.”

His eyes flicked up and down Lance’s body, then back up to meet his eyes, a glow to them that warmed Lance’s cheeks at the bold, obvious way he was checked out. As Shiro left the bookshop, Lance, weak-kneed from lust, thought that he would’ve given every book in the store several times over to have those eyes on him again.

 

* * *

 

Over the next two months, Shiro came into the bookshop about four times a week. Sometimes he left with books, other times he didn’t. The times he didn’t buy anything, he merely stood at the counter and talked to Lance, leaning across the desk until they were almost nose to nose.

Lance had never had anyone take such blatant interest in him before. Always the one to do the chasing, it was a heady, addictive thing to have someone else do all the work. With each visit, he learned more about Shiro the Person instead of Shiro the Champion.

Shiro loved raspberries, could eat them by the dozen. Often when he came in looking like he’d just kissed a person with a lot of red lipstick, it was merely the raspberries he had indulged in not long prior to stepping in. Also, he had a fondness for Altean cats.

“They’re a lot more docile than Galra ones,” Shiro had explained. “If the Galra cats grew any bigger, I’d have several shoved into the arena with me. They’re fierce beasts and can cut a person up good. Altean cats? Once I sat in the sunlight just dozing off, only to wake up to at least seven making a home on my lap.”

And also, Shiro’s love of reading could rival Lance’s own. His life’s motto was “a book a day” and he lived by it well. “Often I forget that I should get rid of some books,” he had laughed. “Why, there’s barely any room in my house for me, thanks to all the books I have.”

“Perhaps I should put you on a book-buying ban,” Lance had responded jokingly.

“Oh please don’t.” Shiro had planted an elbow on the table to rest his chin on his hand, now looking up at Lance, who was so mesmerised he almost didn’t catch that he’d entered the wrong number into the till. “I wouldn’t have a reason to come visit you if you did. You are, without a doubt, the best part of my day.”

“You mean the bookshop?”

The little grin that Shiro had given him as he pushed away from the desk had made Lance feel like he’d missed something important. “Yes, I meant the bookshop. Of course.”

Every little thing Lance learned about him, he tucked away inside his mind. If all the bits of information he cherished were to be transferred into a physical book, it would be the largest book he owned. There was nothing about Shiro that wasn’t admirable. There was no part of Lance that didn’t love Shiro down to the core.

“Listen,” said Shiro, as Lance calculated the price of his purchases, near three months after they first met. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m going to say it outright. Please feel free to answer as truthfully as you want. I will not get mad or upset and will respect your decision.”

Lance frowned up at him in concern. “Okay? Shiro, are you alright?”

“Physically? Perfectly fine and healthy. Mentally? Not so much.”

“Is there something I can help with? You are my friend, I don’t wish to see you suffer in any regard, be it mental or physical.”

“Well, alright…” Shiro took a deep, steadying breath, straightening his posture until he positively towered over Lance. “I met somebody, and I think they’re really interesting. Interesting enough that…I want to ask them on a date. But I don’t know how to do that.”

Quelling the hot, bitter jealousy that rose up inside him like bile, Lance said, “Oh? Why don’t you just ask them?” Whoever it was, they were damned lucky to have someone like Shiro interested in them.

The door opened and a gaggle of Altean girls crept inside, giggling and squealing as they saw Shiro. Their nerves palpable, they ducked into the nearby stacks, peering out at them through the gaps in the books. Lance tried not to pay attention to their whisperings. Now that it was well-known that Shiro was a frequent customer here, business had been booming. Going from three customers a week to sixteen per day was a thrilling experience.

“Thing is,” said Shiro softly, appearing largely ignorant to the audience they had just acquired, “I don’t know if he likes me.”

Lance scoffed. “How could anyone not like you? That’s preposterous! Do you know how kind and funny you are? Or how adorable? No, I won’t hear of it. Just tell the person you like that you like them, and there’s no way they won’t respond positively. They’re lucky to have your affections…” Unlike him, who was clearly not worthy of having—

“Lance, I like you.”

“And I like you too, but Shiro, what does that have anything to do with—wait, what did you say?”

Shiro chuckled, reaching out to tuck a wisp of hair behind Lance’s ear, his touch so delicate and sweet that it sent shivers rolling down Lance’s spine. “I said ‘I like you.’”

The girls behind the bookshelves gasped.

“The person you were so nervous about asking out…is me?” There was no way. No way someone as beautiful and wonderful as Shiro could love someone like him. “Are you serious?”

“I am,” said Shiro. “And I would love to have the honour of taking you out to dinner. You intrigued and delighted me from the moment I met you. Do you accept my affections?”

“I—of course I do!” Lance darted around the counter and threw himself in Shiro’s arms, his feet leaving the floor as Shiro all but swept him up like he weighed nothing. “I—I can’t believe you’re serious, but yes, I accept and return your affections! Please take me out to dinner. I accept, I accept, I accept!”

Shiro continued to laugh, swaying back and forth, clutching Lance like he was something precious, something to be held delicately and cherished and loved. If this was a dream, Lance never wanted to wake up.

“This is so adorable!” whispered one of the girls in the stacks, followed by a chorus of tiny squeals. “I can’t believe this is happening!”

 _That summarises it all quite well,_ Lance thought, hiding his tear-streaked face in the meat of Shiro’s shoulder, as he cried tears of pure, unadulterated joy.


End file.
